How To Survive A Calamity

I gritted my teeth and slowly got up.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

Coincidence? Oh please. I was hungry, not naive!

[Knew this would happen? Knew what would happen?] Meta feigned ignorance, her mechanical voice dripped with sarcasm, but at the same time didn't particularly deny it. Before I could refute, she continued.

[In retrospect, haven't you noticed that everything in this dungeon seems to be 'set up' advantageously for you, the participant? An environment brimming with a high concentration of Aether that aids in rapid recovery and eases breakthroughs, a variety of monsters to gather experience, and now a mystical tree whose fruits grant you ten times more essence than your mortal body is normally allowed to contain.]

"Ah."

Meta was right.

I had a gnawing suspicion when I went down the tunnel that led to the Bone Spike den, but there was still too little clue or information concerning the Dungeon for me to make any real conjectures.

Up until now I had only had the idea as a casual fleeting thought.

But when I looked back and deliberated on Meta's words, some of it began to make sense.

"It's preparing me for the Boss lair."

The Silver Sentinel was a Hero Rank Monster, that was two entire ranks ahead of me. And further considering the larger the gaps between each Ranks, frankly, I had absolutely no chance no matter how many lives.

Except I did. Maybe in a few 'lifetimes' I could conquer.

That was where the 'three lives' system came in.

But then again, at the same time, perhaps the dungeon was specially designed for an Eta ranked Awakened or perhaps even Hero ranked or one rank above that, otherwise I saw no reason to have this level of difficulty for Awakened below Eta rank.

From insanely high level Boss monsters to high level mobs.

In other words, I'm not supposed to be here.

No, that's not right.

The Bone Spikes I saw were all Mortal Rank as well. Well the keyword is , 'i saw'. There could be more, but each of them were either Mid-Mortal rank to High-Mortal rank.

Whereas, I'm still low and barely mid.

So in retrospect, maybe the minimum Rank requirement for entering the dungeon must have been Mid-Mortal rank?

I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I found this Dungeon and was still only Beta Rank.

-shudder.

Just thinking about it makes me shiver.

The gears of my brain moved, deliberating on all of the coincidences thus far, and it was then I realized clarity had once more retuned to my mind.

I momentarily paused my line of thought and rose to observe myself.

It was just one fruit, but I felt considerably lighter, but not the frail kind but more of the agile and lithe one. My skin had regained its bright and rosey hue and even had an extra touch of creamish white radiance that was soft and smoother to the touch.

My eyesight was sharper and my base senses were far more clearer than before. It wasn't something exceptional, but it was a change that was rather obvious.

By my estimate, I would only have this level of senses by the time I get to Level 25 maybe?

But instead, what was truly more noticeable was the amount hidden power I had pulsing out from my body.

Immediately I summoned my status screen.

...

______

______

[Name: Victor Bright

Level: 18

Rank: Mortal

Race: Human

Hp: ???

Aura: 24

______

______

...

"There's not much difference, though?" I muttered in doubt while I scrolled through my status. Aside from the slight increase in my Aura stat, there was nothing else that reflected.

I began to wonder and doubt if that fruit really did anything, but Meta said I'd experienced a minor breakthrough. I could also clearly feel that something was different.

I outstretched my arm and channeled my Aura. A surge of viscous, purple energy burst forth like thick liquid flames, surprising me a little.

The new form of my aura quickly wrapped around the full length of my arm, and I felt a startling resonance with the surrounding air.

"Woah!" I reined in my surprise and calmly analyzed the changes in my Aura. Slowly, Meta's earlier words began to make more sense.

"...Your core has expanded. Higher Aether, energy my mortal body would normally be incapable of withstanding, talent..."

I see, I thought, my eyes shining with realization.

An Aurora is a mystical tree born under dire conditions involving the amalgamation of Aether, and every thousand years, it produces a fruit.

The fruit is much rarer than the tree itself and contains the purest, most refined form of something called Higher Aether. Consuming such an item has refined my Core and dramatically enhanced the quality of my Aura.

I could feel the hidden power of this new form my Aura had taken.

"Armament," I muttered, clenching my fist.

The viscous Aura wrapped tightly around my arms, forming ethereal gauntlets made of woven threads of energy. I felt a substantial boost in my strength, and the gauntlets no longer seemed illusory or weak.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the internal flow of my Aura.

Hmm, Armament doesn't consume as much Aura as before. The quality is now so high that I might be able to complete the art or even create something superior with time!

In addition, I felt a more resonant connection with Aether, and I found it much easier to chanel my Aura and manifest my art.

The Fruit has raised further my compatability and talent for Aether manipulation...this raises a whole new different paths for elevation in the future.

[In summary, you have been blessed by Aether,] Meta said suddenly. An odd smile crossed my lips.

... That's a cringe way to put it.

I couldn't get too excited; there was still a lot I didn't understand. I needed to conduct a few experiments and practical trials, but I wasn't worried too much about that. With Meta, my own pocket Wikipedia of Aethoria, I could quickly grasp the extent of the changes the Fruit had on my body and Aura.

For now, there were other matters to attend to.

Back to the matter at hand, I summoned the red screen displaying my number of lives left. A stern look made it to my expression.

With Meta's affirmation, I've concluded that the dungeon indeed was set-up to aid the participant's progression — in order words, helps to make me stronger.

From the literal air i breathe to the water I drink; everything is imbued in high concentration of Aether which my body passively absorbs and refines with each second.

The Monsters were there to provide experience and further hasten the process. The question was, why would a dungeon have the purpose of strengthening the participant?

My answer? Quite frankly I didn't give two fucks.

The 'Why'? Who cares? I just have to get out of here, and if the resources provided to me will help me advance and grow stronger, then who am I to complain?

Now that I had regained my past vigour, I felt my flame of vengeance burn brightly.

Looking at the red screen displaying my lives, I nodded then snickered darkly to myself.

"Good...good, this is good...hehe."

You want me to get stronger, right? You want me to sit on that Throne, fine. I'll play the stupid game a while longer, I do have some lasting grievances to smooth out, after all.

I dismissed the screen then turned back to face the mysterious tree before me. The Aurora tree...it glowed just as brightly and beautiful as ever.

It said it reproduced a fruit once every thousand years, so that was reason enough to believe that the Aurora has existed for far more longer than that. Which also means the dungeon was possibly just as ancient.

That would explain the grand and archaic designs during the Giant passageway.

Ah, Giant Passageway is what I ended up calling the large...giant passage — it's self-explanatory.

"Meta, how's your analysis coming along?" After deliberating for a while, I asked aloud seemingly to myself.

There was a slight buzz before Meta's voice responded n my head.

[I haven't uncovered anything substantial yet.] It was a curt and unsatisfactory answer as always.

Sigh...I guess there's no helping it then.

I clenched and unclenched my fist and hummed in thought.

"I'll rest a little while more then continue to explore the dungeon. I believe there was a third tunnel, right?"

The first tunnel led to the boss lair, the second led to the Bone Spike den. And following the conjectures I've reached concerning the Dungeon and it's previous obstacles, I'm guessing the third tunnel would lead to another Monster Den.

But as for what specie and how strong they would be, I had only to find out myself.

"Two lives... I've got two trials left to face the Silver Sentinel..." A dark smile twisted ony lips.

But first, I had to pay a visit to an old bony friend of mine